Voice recognition system and display device using the same

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are a voice recognition system and a display device using the same. The disclosed voice recognition system includes a plate structure, a vibration sensor, and a voice recognition device. The plate structure vibrates based on propagation of a voice wave generated from a user, and the vibration sensor is provided in contact with the plate structure to detect the vibration of the plate structure. The voice recognition device recognizes voice of the user by receiving a signal output from the vibration sensor.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/920,894, filed Jul. 6, 2020, which is based on and claims priorityfrom Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0002146, filed on Jan. 7,2020, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The disclosure relates to voice recognition systems and display devicesusing the same.

2. Description of Related Art

In a device used for voice recognition, when a microphone is locatedinside or outside the device, an acoustic hole is needed for goodtransmission of the voice of a user. In addition, a plurality ofmicrophones are required to increase a voice recognition range, andrelative locations between the plurality of microphones need to beappropriately adjusted.

SUMMARY

Provided are voice recognition systems and display devices using thesame.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments of the disclosure.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a voicerecognition system comprising: a plate structure that vibrates based onpropagation of a voice wave from a user, a vibration sensor provided tobe in contact with the plate structure to detect vibration of the platestructure, and a voice recognition device configured to recognize voiceof the user based on signal output from the vibration sensor.

The vibration sensor may be provided to have directivity in a directionof the user.

A surface of the vibration sensor facing the direction of the user maybe provided to be in parallel with the plate structure.

The vibration sensor may comprise a displacement sensor.

The vibration sensor may comprise: a support board having a portionfixed to the plate structure, and at least one sensing element providedon the support board.

The vibration sensor may further comprise a mass provided on the supportboard.

The vibration sensor may comprise a plurality of support boards eachhaving a portion fixed to the plate structure, and a plurality ofsensing elements having different resonant frequencies, each of theplurality of sensing elements being provided on the plurality of supportboards.

The voice recognition system may further comprise a case supporting theplate structure.

The voice recognition system may further comprise a vibration dampingmember provided between the plate structure and the case.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a voicerecognition system comprising: a plate structure that vibrates based onpropagation of a voice wave from a user, a plurality of vibrationsensors provided to be in contact with the plate structure, a signalprocessor configured to process signals output from the plurality ofvibration sensors and a voice recognition device configured to recognizevoice of the user based on the signals processed by the signalprocessor.

The plurality of vibration sensors may have directivity in a firstdirection, which is a direction of the user, and may be provided atlocations determined based on values of displacements corresponding tothe plate structure.

The plurality of vibration sensors may comprise: a first vibrationsensor having directivity in the first direction, and a second vibrationsensor having directivity in a second direction different from the firstdirection.

The voice recognition system may further comprise a case supporting theplate structure.

The voice recognition system may further comprise a vibration dampingmember provided between the plate structure and the case.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided adisplay device comprising: a display panel that vibrates based onpropagation of a voice wave from a user; a case that supports thedisplay panel; at least one vibration sensor provided to be in the casein contact with the display panel to detect the vibration of the displaypanel; and a voice recognition device configured to recognize voice ofthe user based on a signal output from the at least one vibrationsensor.

The display device may further comprise a vibration damping memberprovided between the display panel and the case.

The at least one vibration sensor may be attached to a rear surface ofthe display panel.

The at least one vibration sensor may be provided to have directivity ina first direction, which is a direction of the user.

The at least one vibration sensor may comprise: a first vibration sensorhaving directivity in the first direction, and a second vibration sensorhaving directivity in a second direction different from the firstdirection.

The display device may further comprise a signal processor forprocessing signals output from the first and second vibration sensorsand outputting the processed signals to the voice recognition device.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a voicerecognition apparatus comprising: a plate structure; and a vibrationsensor provided on the plate structure to detect vibration of the platestructure, wherein the vibration sensor comprises: a substrate having acavity and a support portion; and a sensing element provided on thesupport portion of the substrate.

The substrate may be attached to a rear surface of the plate structure.

The support board may be provided in parallel with the plate structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a voice recognition system according to anexample embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a vibration sensor illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A′ of FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along line B-B′ of FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an equivalent model made of an isotropicmaterial of a sensing element provided on a support board in FIGS. 2 to4 ;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another example vibration sensoremployable in the voice recognition system illustrated in FIG. 1 ;

FIGS. 7 to 10 illustrate other example vibration sensors employable inthe voice recognition system illustrated in FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a voice recognition system according toanother example embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a voice recognition system according toanother example embodiment; and

FIGS. 13A to 13F illustrate voice recognition systems according to otherexample embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like referencenumerals refer to like elements throughout. In this regard, theembodiments may have different forms and should not be construed asbeing limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Accordingly, theembodiments are merely described below, by referring to the figures, toexplain aspects. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and allcombinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Expressionssuch as “at least one of,” when preceding a list of elements, modify theentire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of thelist.

Hereinafter, the disclosure will be described in detail by explainingembodiments of the disclosure with reference to the attached drawings.In the drawings, like reference numerals denote like elements and thesizes of elements may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience ofexplanation. Embodiments set forth herein are merely examples and may bemodified in various ways.

In the following description, when an element is referred to as being“on” another element, it may be “directly” on another element or may be“indirectly” provided such that an intervening element is also present.The singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include theplural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes” and/or “including”, whenused herein, specify the presence of stated elements, but do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements.

The definite article “the” or other demonstratives may indicate both asingular form and a plural form. Unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise, operations included in a method may be performed in anappropriate order and are not limited to the order described herein.

As used herein, the term such as “unit” or “module” refers to an entityfor processing at least one function or operation, and may beimplemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware andsoftware.

Connection lines or connection members between elements illustrated inthe drawings represent examples of functional connections and/orphysical or circuit connections, and may be represented as variousreplaceable or additional functional connections, physical connections,or circuit connections in an actual device.

All examples or exemplary terms are merely used to describe thetechnical features in detail and do not limit the scope of thedisclosure unless defined by the claims.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a voice recognition system 100 accordingto an example embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the voice recognition system 100 includes a platestructure 110, a vibration sensor 130, and a voice recognition device150. The plate structure 110 may vibrate due to voice generated from theuser S, and the vibration sensor 130 may be attached to the platestructure 110 to detect the vibration of the plate structure 110. Thevoice recognition device 150 may recognize the voice of the user S byreceiving a signal 160 output from the vibration sensor 130.

In the voice recognition system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 , when a voicewave is generated and propagates from the user S, the plate structure110 based on the voice wave. For instance, the plate structure 110finely vibrates in synchronization with the voice wave. Due to thevibration, a dynamic change having a high correlation with a voicesignal of the user S occurs at a portion of the plate structure 110 towhich the vibration sensor 130 is attached. According to an exampleembodiment, the dynamic change may be one or more of a displacement,speed, acceleration, strain, or optical displacement, Then, thevibration sensor 130 may obtain the vibration causing the dynamicchange, and the voice recognition device 150 may recognize the voice ofthe user S by receiving the output signal 160 obtained from thevibration sensor 130.

The plate structure 110 may generate the vibration due to the voice wavegenerated from the user S. Herein, the user S may located in a frontdirection of the plate structure 110, e.g., a z-axis direction in FIG. 1. The plate structure 110 may include a front surface 110 a facing theuser S, and a rear surface 110 b opposite to the front surface 110 a.

The plate structure 110 may have a form of a thin plate capable ofgenerating vibration. The plate structure 110 may include, for example,a display panel, a smart window, or a smart mirror. However, these itemsare merely examples. For example, when a display panel is used as theplate structure 110, the voice recognition system 100 according to thecurrent embodiment may be a display device.

According to an example embodiment, the voice recognition system 100 mayinclude a case 120 provided outside the plate structure 110 to supportthe plate structure 110. Herein, the case 120 may be provided, forexample, to cover the rear surface 110 b of the plate structure 110.However, this configuration is merely an example. In some cases, thecase 120 may not be provided.

The vibration sensor 130 serves to detect the vibration of the platestructure 110 due to the voice of the user S, and may be provided incontact with the plate structure 110. When the user S is located in thefront direction of the plate structure 110, the vibration sensor 130 maybe attached to, for example, the rear surface 110 b of the platestructure 110. In this case, the vibration sensor 130 may be attachedto, for example, a portion of the plate structure 110 where thevibration occurs the most, For instance, the vibration sensor 130 may beattached to a portion of the plate structure 110 at which the vibrationhas the largest impact in terms of position and/or speed of displacementof the plate structure 110. However, the disclosure is not limitedthereto, and as such, in some cases, the vibration sensor 130 may beattached to a portion other than the rear surface 110 b of the platestructure 110.

The vibration sensor 130 may include, for example, a displacement sensorfor detecting a displacement generated due to vibration of the platestructure 110. In this case, the vibration sensor 130 may be provided inparallel with the plate structure 110 to have directivity in the frontdirection of the plate structure 110 (e.g., the z-axis direction in FIG.1 ) corresponding to a user direction. That is, the vibration sensor 130may be provided to have the planar surface of the vibration sensor 130facing the direction of the user. According to an example embodiment,the vibration sensor 130 may be provided to have the planar surface ofthe vibration sensor 130 perpendicular to the direction of the user.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the vibration sensor 130 illustrated inFIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A′ of FIG. 2 ,and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along line B-B′ of FIG. 2 . Thevibration sensor 130 illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4 may be a displacementsensor for detecting a displacement generated due to vibration of theplate structure 110 caused by voice of the user S.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4 , the vibration sensor 130 may include asubstrate 131, and a sensing element 140 provided on the substrate 131.Herein, the substrate 131 may be attached to the rear surface 110 b ofthe plate structure 110. An adhesive layer 135 for attaching thevibration sensor 130 to the plate structure 110 may be further providedbetween the substrate 131 and the plate structure 110.

The substrate 131 may have a cavity 131 a that penetrates through thesubstrate 131, and a support board 132 that extends into the cavity 131a. Herein, the support board 132 is provided in parallel with the platestructure 110. The substrate 131 may use, for example, a siliconsubstrate, but is not limited thereto, and may use a substrate ofvarious materials.

The support board 132 may have a cantilever structure, an end of whichis fixed to the portion of the substrate 131 attached to the platestructure 110 and another end of which is freely movable along the userdirection (e.g., the z-axis direction in FIG. 2 ).

The sensing element 140 is provided on a surface of the support board132. Herein, the sensing element 140 may include a resonator having acertain resonant frequency. For example, the sensing element 140 mayinclude a piezoelectric device for generating electric energy due todeformation of a piezoelectric body. In this case, the sensing element140 includes a first electrode 141 provided on the support board 132, apiezoelectric layer 143 provided on the first electrode 141, and asecond electrode 142 provided on the piezoelectric layer 143. Herein,the first and second electrodes 141 and 142 may be, for example, (+) and(−) electrodes, respectively. Alternatively, the first and secondelectrodes 141 and 142 may be (−) and (+) electrodes, respectively. Thefirst and second electrodes 141 and 142 may be electrically connected tofirst and second terminals 141 a and 142 a provided on the substrate131, respectively.

In the vibration sensor 130 illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4 , thedisplacement generated due to the vibration of the plate structure 110caused by the voice of the user S may be transmitted to the end of thesupport board 132 fixed to the plate structure 110, and the other end ofthe support board 132 may vibrate due to an inertial force to amplifythe displacement.

In the current embodiment, the vibration sensor 130 may be provided inparallel with the plate structure 110 (e.g., an xy plane) to havedirectivity in the user direction (e.g., the z-axis direction).

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an equivalent model 145 made of anisotropic material of the sensing element 140 provided on the supportboard 132 in FIGS. 2 to 4 according to an example embodiment. In FIG. 5, l_(x), l_(y), and l_(z) denote a length (a dimension in an x-axisdirection), a width (a dimension in a y-axis direction), and a thickness(a dimension in a z-axis direction) of the equivalent model 145,respectively.

Equation 1 represents a ratio of a stiffness in the y-axis direction tothat in the z-axis direction, and Equation 2 represents a ratio of astiffness in the x-axis direction to that in the z-axis direction. InEquations 1 and 2, E denotes Young's modulus.

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{k_{y}}{k_{z}} = {\frac{\frac{1}{4}{{El}_{z}( \frac{l_{y}}{l_{x}} )}^{3}}{\frac{1}{4}{{El}_{y}( \frac{l_{z}}{l_{x}} )}} = ( \frac{l_{y}}{l_{z}} )^{2}}} & (1)\end{matrix}$ $\begin{matrix}{\frac{k_{x}}{k_{z}} = {\frac{{El}_{z}l_{y}/l_{x}}{\frac{1}{4}{{El}_{y}( \frac{l_{z}}{l_{x}} )}^{3}} = {4( \frac{l_{x}}{l_{z}} )^{2}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$

Assuming that the thickness l_(z), the width l_(y), and the length l_(x)of the equivalent model 145 are 2 μm, 100 μm, and 1000 μm, respectively,as an example of dimensions of a general small sensor, according toEquations 1 and 2, the stiffness in the y-axis direction is about 2,500times greater than the stiffness in the z-axis direction, and thestiffness in the x-axis direction is about 25,000 times greater than thestiffness in the z-axis direction.

Because the stiffness in the x-axis direction and the stiffness in they-axis direction are much greater than the stiffness in the z-axisdirection as described above, it is shown that the equivalent model 145has directivity in the z-axis direction.

Therefore, when the plate structure 110 vibrates, the vibration sensor130 provided in parallel with the plate structure 110 may dominantlyobtain a signal from the z-axis direction corresponding to the userdirection, compared to a signal from the x-axis or y-axis direction(e.g., an acoustic signal generated from a speaker mounted in a case).

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another example vibration sensor 230employable in the voice recognition system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 .

Referring to FIG. 6 , the vibration sensor 230 includes a plurality ofsensing elements 241, 242, and 243 provided on a substrate 231. A cavity231 a penetrates through the substrate 231, and a plurality of supportboards 232 a, 232 b, and 232 c extend from the substrate 231 into thecavity 231 a. Herein, the plurality of support boards 232 a, 232 b, and232 c may be provided in parallel with the plate structure 110 (see FIG.1 ).

Each of the plurality of support boards 232 a, 232 b, and 232 c may havea cantilever structure, an end of which is fixed to the substrate 231attached to the plate structure 110 and another end of which is freelymovable along a user direction (e.g., a z-axis direction in FIG. 6 ).

The plurality of sensing elements 241, 242, and 243 are provided on theplurality of the support boards 232 a, 232 b, and 232 c, respectively.As described above, each of the plurality of sensing elements 241, 242,and 243 may include, for example, a piezoelectric device for generatingelectric energy due to deformation of a piezoelectric body.

The plurality of sensing elements 241, 242, and 243 may be provided tohave different resonant frequencies. To this end, the plurality ofsensing elements 241, 242, and 243 may be provided to have differentdimensions. For example, the plurality of sensing elements 241, 242, and243 may have at least one of different lengths, different widths, anddifferent thicknesses. FIG. 6 illustrates an example in which theplurality of support boards 232 a, 232 b, and 232 c having differentlengths are provided on the substrate 231 and the plurality of sensingelements 241, 242, and 243 having different lengths are provided on thesupport boards 232 a, 232 b, and 232 c.

Although three sensing elements 241, 242, and 243 having three differentresonant frequencies are illustrated in FIG. 6 , three is merely anexample and the number of sensing elements 241, 242, and 243 may bevariously changed.

Because the vibration sensor 230 includes the plurality of sensingelements 241, 242, and 243 having different resonant frequencies asdescribed above, a voice signal of a wide frequency band may berecognized.

FIGS. 7 to 10 illustrate other example vibration sensors 371, 372, 373,and 374 employable in the voice recognition system 100 illustrated inFIG. 1 .

The vibration sensor 371 illustrated in FIG. 7 includes a support board332 a, and a sensing element 340 a provided on the support board 332 a.Herein, the support board 332 a may have a cantilever structureincluding a fixed end. Specifically, the support board 332 a may have astructure, an end of which is fixed to the substrate 131 attached to theplate structure 110 (see FIG. 1 ) and another end of which is freelymovable in the user direction. The sensing element 340 a may be providednear the fixed portion of the support board 332 a. A mass 380 a capableof increasing an inertial force may be further provided on the other endof the support board 332 a to increase the sensitivity of the vibrationsensor 371.

The vibration sensor 372 illustrated in FIG. 8 includes a support board332 b, and a plurality of sensing elements 340 b provided on the supportboard 332 b. Herein, the support board 332 b may have a bridge structureincluding two fixed ends. Specifically, the support board 332 b may havea structure, two ends of which are fixed to the substrate 131 attachedto the plate structure 110 and a middle portion of which is freelymovable in the user direction. The plurality of sensing elements 340 bmay be provided near the fixed portions of the support board 332 b. FIG.8 illustrates an example in which two sensing elements 340 b areprovided on the support board 332 b. However, the number of sensingelements 340 b is not limited thereto and a single sensing element 340 bmay be provided on the support board 332 b. A mass 380 b may be furtherprovided on a middle portion of the support board 332 b to increase thesensitivity of the vibration sensor 372.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example in which the vibration sensor 373 includesa support board 332 c, and a plurality of sensing elements 340 cprovided on the support board 332 c. Herein, the support board 332 c mayhave a polygonal structure including four fixed ends. The plurality ofsensing elements 340 c may be provided near the fixed portions of thesupport board 332 c. FIG. 9 illustrates an example in which four sensingelements 340 c are provided on the support board 332 c. However, thenumber of sensing elements 340 c is not limited thereto and variousnumbers of sensing elements 340 c may be provided on the support board332 c. A mass 380 c may be further provided on a middle portion of thesupport board 332 c to increase the sensitivity of the vibration sensor373.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example in which the vibration sensor 373 includesthe polygonal support board 332 c including four fixed ends. However,four is merely an example and the vibration sensor 373 may includevarious polygonal support boards including three fixed ends or five ormore fixed ends.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example in which the vibration sensor 374includes a support board 332 d, and a sensing element 340 d provided onthe support board 332 d. Herein, the support board 332 d may have acircular structure, a circumference of which is fixed. The sensingelement 340 d may be provided along the fixed portion of the supportboard 332 d. FIG. 10 illustrates an example in which a single sensingelement 340 d is provided on the support board 332 d. However, thenumber of sensing elements 340 d is not limited thereto and a pluralityof sensing elements 340 d may be provided on the support board 332 d. Amass 380 d may be further provided on a middle portion of the supportboard 332 d to increase the sensitivity of the vibration sensor 374. Inaddition, at least one through-hole 332′ for adjusting a stiffness ofthe support board 332 d may be provided in the support board 332 d.

In the voice recognition system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 , thevibration sensor 130, 230, 371, 372, 373, or 374 may detect vibration ofthe plate structure 110 generated due to voice of the user S, and thevoice recognition device 150 may recognize the voice of the user S byreceiving the signal 160 output from the vibration sensor 130, 230, 371,372, 373, or 374.

In the voice recognition system 100 according to the current embodiment,because the vibration sensor 130, 230, 371, 372, 373, or 374 may beprovided in contact with the plate structure 110 to detect the vibrationof the plate structure 110 due to the voice of the user S, an acoustichole or the like for transmitting the voice of the user S well may notbe required. Furthermore, because the vibration sensor 130, 230, 371,372, 373, or 374 may be attached to the rear surface 110 b of the platestructure 110 which is not seen by the user S, a design of the frontsurface 110 a of the plate structure 110 may not be restricted by thevibration sensor 130, 230, 371, 372, 373, or 374. In addition, becausethe vibration sensor 130, 230, 371, 372, 373, or 374 may be provided inparallel with the plate structure 110 to have directivity in the userdirection, only the voice signal from the user direction may bedominantly obtained.

A case in which the vibration sensor includes a displacement sensor fordetecting a displacement generated due to vibration of the platestructure 110 is described above. However, the displacement sensor ismerely an example and the vibration sensor may include other types ofsensors.

For example, the vibration sensor may include an inertial sensor fordetecting an inertial force generated due to vibration of the platestructure 110 caused by voice of the user S, a strain sensor fordetecting a strain generated due to vibration of the plate structure 110caused by voice of the user S, or an optical sensor for detecting anoptical displacement generated due to vibration of the plate structure110 caused by voice of the user S. Herein, the inertial sensor, thestrain sensor, and the optical sensor are generally well known and thusdetailed descriptions thereof will not be provided herein.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a voice recognition system 400 accordingto another example embodiment. For the sake of convenience, the voicerecognition device 150 illustrated in FIG. 1 is not illustrated in FIG.11 .

Referring to FIG. 11 , the voice recognition system 400 includes theplate structure 110, a vibration sensor 430, the voice recognitiondevice 150 (see FIG. 1 ), a case 420, and a vibration damping member490.

Descriptions of the plate structure 110 and the voice recognition device150 are provided above and thus will not be repeated herein. Thevibration sensor 430 may correspond to one of the above-describedvibration sensors 130, 230, 371, 372, 373, and 374, and a detaileddescription thereof will not be provided herein.

The case 420 is provided to support the plate structure 110. Forexample, the case 420 may be provided to cover a rear surface of theplate structure 110. The vibration damping member 490 capable ofsuppressing transmission of vibration of the case 420 to the platestructure 110 may be provided between the plate structure 110 and thecase 420. Herein, the vibration damping member 490 may include, forexample, an elastic material.

For example, when speakers SP1 and SP2 are mounted in the case 420, thecase 420 vibrates due to sound generated from the speakers SP1 and SP2and the vibration may be transmitted to the plate structure 110. In thevoice recognition system 400 according to the example embodiment, sincethe vibration damping member 490 is provided between the plate structure110 and the case 420, vibration of the case 420 generated due to soundgenerated from the speakers SP1 and SP2 may be prevented from beingtransmitted to the plate structure 110 by the vibration damping member490, and thus the vibration sensor 430 may react well to voice of theuser S.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a voice recognition system 500 accordingto another example embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 12 , the voice recognition system 500 includes theplate structure 110, a plurality of vibration sensors 531, 532, and 533attached to the plate structure 110, a signal processor 570, and a voicerecognition device 550. The plate structure 110 may be supported by thecase 420, and the vibration damping member 490 for suppressingtransmission of vibration of the case 420 to the plate structure 110 maybe provided between the plate structure 110 and the case 420.Descriptions of the plate structure 110, the case 420, and the vibrationdamping member 490 are provided above and thus will not be repeatedherein.

The user S may be located in a front direction of the plate structure110, e.g., a z-axis direction in FIG. 12 . The plate structure 110 mayinclude a front surface 110 a facing the user S, and a rear surface 110b opposite to the front surface 110 a. The plurality of vibrationsensors 531, 532, and 533 are attached to the plate structure 110. Forexample, the plurality of vibration sensors 531, 532, and 533 may beattached to the rear surface 110 b of the plate structure 110, but arenot limited thereto.

The plurality of vibration sensors 531, 532, and 533 may include first,second, and third vibration sensors 531, 532, and 533. Herein, thefirst, second, and third vibration sensors 531, 532, and 533 may havedifferent directivities depending on directions in which they areattached to the plate structure 110. Each of the first, second, andthird vibration sensors 531, 532, and 533 may have the sameconfiguration as one of the above-described vibration sensors 130, 230,371, 372, 373, and 374.

The first vibration sensor 531 may serve to detect vibration of theplate structure 110 due to voice of the user S, and may be attached inparallel with the plate structure 110 as described above. Specifically,the first vibration sensor 531 may be provided in parallel with an xyplane in FIG. 12 to have directivity in a user direction (i.e., thez-axis direction). Therefore, the first vibration sensor 531 maydominantly detect vibration of the plate structure 110 in the z-axisdirection.

The second vibration sensor 532 may serve to detect vibration of theplate structure 110 due to a sound source other than the user S, e.g.,the speakers SP1 and SP2 mounted in the case 420, and may be attached,for example, perpendicularly to the plate structure 110. Specifically,the second vibration sensor 532 may be provided in parallel with an xzplane in FIG. 12 to have directivity in a y-axis direction. Therefore,the second vibration sensor 532 may dominantly detect vibration of theplate structure 110 in the y-axis direction.

The third vibration sensor 533 may serve to detect vibration of theplate structure 110 due to a sound source other than the user S, e.g.,the speakers SP1 and SP2 mounted in the case 420, and may be attached,for example, perpendicularly to the plate structure 110. Specifically,the third vibration sensor 533 may be provided in parallel with a yzplane in FIG. 12 to have directivity in an x-axis direction. Therefore,the third vibration sensor 533 may dominantly detect vibration of theplate structure 110 in the x-axis direction.

A first output signal 561 output from the first vibration sensor 531, asecond output signal 562 output from the second vibration sensor 532,and a third output signal 563 output from the third vibration sensor 533are input to the signal processor 570. The signal processor 570 maycombine and process the first, second, and third output signals 561,562, and 563, and then the voice recognition device 550 may recognizethe voice of the user S by receiving the processed signal.

In the example embodiment, the signal processor 570 may effectively dampsignals other than the user voice by differentiating and removingsignals due to vibration in directions (e.g., the x-axis and y-axisdirections) other than the z-axis direction corresponding to the userdirection.

FIGS. 13A to 13F illustrate voice recognition systems according to otherexample embodiments. FIGS. 13A to 13F illustrate vibration sensors 631,632, 633, 634, 635, and 636 provided in various ways on the rear surface110 b of the plate structure 110. The vibration sensors 631, 632, 633,634, 635, and 636 described below may correspond to one of theabove-described vibration sensors 130, 230, 371, 372, 373, and 374.

FIGS. 13A to 13F illustrate examples in which the vibration sensors 631,632, 633, 634, 635, and 636 are provided at portions of the platestructure 110 where largest displacements are generated due to voice ofthe user S. FIG. 13A illustrates a case in which a single vibrationsensor 631 is provided on the plate structure 110, and FIGS. 13B to 13Fillustrate cases in which pluralities of vibration sensors 632, 633,634, 635, and 636 are provided on the plate structure 110. When theplurality of vibration sensors 632, 633, 634, 635, or 636 are providedon the plate structure 110, output signals detected by the plurality ofvibration sensors 632, 633, 634, 635, or 636 may be processed by asignal processor and then be input to a voice recognition device

Referring to FIG. 13A, when a large displacement is generated at amiddle portion of the plate structure 110 due to the voice of the userS, the vibration sensor 631 may be provided on the middle portion of theplate structure 110. Referring to FIG. 13B, when large displacements aregenerated at left and right portions of the plate structure 110 due tothe voice of the user S, the vibration sensors 632 may be provided onthe left and right portions.

Referring to FIG. 13C, when large displacements are generated at upperand lower portions of the plate structure 110 due to the voice of theuser S, the vibration sensors 633 may be provided on the upper and lowerportions. Referring to FIG. 13D, when large displacements are generatedat left, middle, and right portions of the plate structure 110 due tothe voice of the user S, the vibration sensors 634 may be provided onthe left, middle, and right portions.

The vibration sensors 635 may be provided on four portions of the platestructure 110 as illustrated in FIG. 13E, or the vibration sensors 636may be provided on six portions of the plate structure 110 asillustrated in FIG. 13F.

As described above, according to example embodiments, because avibration sensor may be provided in contact with a plate structure todetect vibration of the plate structure due to voice of a user, anacoustic hole or the like for transmitting the voice of the user wellmay not be required. Furthermore, because the vibration sensor may beattached to a rear surface of the plate structure which is not seen bythe user, a design of a front surface of the plate structure may not berestricted by the vibration sensor. In addition, because the vibrationsensor may be provided in parallel with the plate structure to havedirectivity in a user direction, only a voice signal from the userdirection may be dominantly obtained.

The elements of the voice recognition system described herein may beimplemented using hardware components and software components. Forexample, the hardware components may include microphones, amplifiers,band-pass filters, audio to digital convertors, non-transitory computermemory and processing devices. A processing device may be implementedusing one or more general-purpose or special purpose computers, such as,for example, a processor, a controller and an arithmetic logic unit(ALU), a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmablegate array (FPGA), a programmable logic unit (PLU), a microprocessor orany other device capable of responding to and executing instructions ina defined manner. The processing device may run an operating system (OS)and one or more software applications that run on the OS. The processingdevice also may access, store, manipulate, process, and create data inresponse to execution of the software. For purpose of simplicity, thedescription of a processing device is used as singular; however, oneskilled in the art will appreciated that a processing device may includemultiple processing elements and multiple types of processing elements.For example, a processing device may include multiple processors or aprocessor and a controller. In addition, different processingconfigurations are possible, such a parallel processors.

The software may include a computer program, a piece of code, aninstruction, or some combination thereof, to independently orcollectively instruct or configure the processing device to operate asdesired. Software and data may be embodied permanently or temporarily inany type of machine, component, physical or virtual equipment, computerstorage medium or device, or in a propagated signal wave capable ofproviding instructions or data to or being interpreted by the processingdevice. The software also may be distributed over network coupledcomputer systems so that the software is stored and executed in adistributed fashion. The software and data may be stored by one or morenon-transitory computer readable recording mediums. The non-transitorycomputer readable recording medium may include any data storage devicethat can store data which can be thereafter read by a computer system orprocessing device.

Example embodiments include non-transitory computer-readable mediaincluding program instructions to implement various operations embodiedby a computer. The media may also include, alone or in combination withthe program instructions, data files, data structures, tables, and thelike. The media and program instructions may be those specially designedand constructed for the purposes of example embodiments, or they may beof the kind well known and available to those having skill in thecomputer software arts. Examples of non-transitory computer-readablemedia include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, andmagnetic tape; optical media such as CD ROM disks; magneto-optical mediasuch as floptical disks; and hardware devices that are speciallyconfigured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-onlymemory devices (ROM) and random-access memory (RAM). Examples of programinstructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler,and files containing higher level code that may be executed by thecomputer using an interpreter. The described hardware devices may beconfigured to act as one or more software modules in order to performthe operations of the above-described example embodiments, or viceversa.

It should be understood that embodiments described herein should beconsidered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation. Descriptions of features or aspects within each embodimentshould typically be considered as available for other similar featuresor aspects in other embodiments. While one or more embodiments have beendescribed with reference to the figures, it will be understood by thoseof ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and detailsmay be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope asdefined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A voice recognition system comprising: a platestructure that vibrates based on propagation of a voice wave from auser; a vibration sensor provided to be in contact with the platestructure to detect vibration of the plate structure; and a voicerecognition circuit configured to recognize voice of the user based onsignal output from the vibration sensor, wherein the vibration sensorcomprises a support board having a portion fixed to the plate structure,and at least one sensing element provided on the support board.
 2. Thevoice recognition system of claim 1, wherein the vibration sensor isprovided to have directivity in a direction of the user.
 3. The voicerecognition system of claim 2, wherein a surface of the vibration sensorfacing the direction of the user is provided to be in parallel with theplate structure.
 4. The voice recognition system of claim 3, wherein thevibration sensor has a planar shape.
 5. The voice recognition system ofclaim 1, wherein the vibration sensor further comprises a mass providedon the support board.
 6. The voice recognition system of claim 1,further comprising a case supporting the plate structure.
 7. The voicerecognition system of claim 6, further comprising a vibration dampingmember provided between the plate structure and the case.
 8. A voicerecognition system comprising: a plate structure that vibrates based onpropagation of a voice wave from a user; a plurality of vibrationsensors provided to be in contact with the plate structure; a signalprocessor circuit configured to process signals output from theplurality of vibration sensors; and a voice recognition circuitconfigured to recognize voice of the user based on the signals processedby the signal processor circuit, wherein each of the plurality ofvibration sensors comprises a support board having a portion fixed tothe plate structure, and at least one sensing element provided on thesupport board.
 9. The voice recognition system of claim 8, wherein theplurality of vibration sensors have directivity in a first direction,which is a direction of the user, and are provided at locationsdetermined based on values of displacements corresponding to the platestructure.
 10. The voice recognition system of claim 8, wherein theplurality of vibration sensors comprise: a first vibration sensor havingdirectivity in a first direction, and a second vibration sensor havingdirectivity in a second direction different from the first direction.11. The voice recognition system of claim 8, further comprising a casesupporting the plate structure.
 12. The voice recognition system ofclaim 11, further comprising a vibration damping member provided betweenthe plate structure and the case.
 13. The voice recognition system ofclaim 8, wherein each of the plurality of vibration sensors has a planarshape.
 14. A display device comprising: a display panel that vibratesbased on propagation of a voice wave from a user; a case that supportsthe display panel; at least one vibration sensor provided to be in thecase in contact with the display panel to detect a vibration of thedisplay panel; and a voice recognition circuit configured to recognizevoice of the user based on a signal output from the at least onevibration sensor, wherein the at least one vibration sensor comprises asupport board having a portion fixed to the display panel, and at leastone sensing element provided on the support board.
 15. The displaydevice of claim 14, wherein the at least one vibration sensor isattached to a rear surface of the display panel.
 16. The display deviceof claim 14, wherein the at least one vibration sensor is provided tohave directivity in a first direction, which is a direction of the user.17. The display device of claim 14, wherein the at least one vibrationsensor comprises: a first vibration sensor having directivity in a firstdirection, and a second vibration sensor having directivity in a seconddirection different from the first direction.
 18. The display device ofclaim 17, further comprising a signal processor circuit for processingsignals output from the first and second vibration sensors andoutputting the processed signals to the voice recognition circuit.